It'll be a little longer before drivers begin sharing the road with semis with no human on board. “They have had self-driving 18-wheelers up and down I-45, across I-30, across I-20 for several years, but they have a human in the seat. So they still have a human in the seat in case something goes array,” said Amy Witherite, founder of Witherite Law Group and traffic safety advocate.
The U.S. Department of Transportation and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration are the federal agencies that oversee driverless semis. Witherite said she sees the benefits of self-driving semis but believes companies should pump the breaks. “We just need to do this in a prudent and reasonable manner so that families aren't tragically impacted by the rush to get driverless 80,000-pound vehicles on the roadway," Witherite said.
Aurora has emphasized its commitment to safety from the start, telling NBC 5 in an email,"We're proud that Aurora's autonomous trucking product has the confidence of safety leaders in Texas and the logistics industry. As we've prepared for driverless operations, we've worked closely with the Texas Department of Transportation, Texas Department of Public, and local police departments like the Frisco PD.